Untitled Mechwarrior Substory
by Irish Saetta
Summary: My first attempt at fanfiction, written over a large period of time... I know little about the battletech universe, this is just what i know from MW4 and the demo for MW3 :P. Have fun. PS it's not finished, but if enough people want it to end then i do so
1. Chapter 1

Title

Chapter name

"Listen up everyone, we're approaching navpoint alpha. Everyone go weapons hot. I'll stay back here, medium lance escort the recon pair to the edge of the first clearing. The recon pair will do the rest. Atlas number two and I will be waiting at the forest limits to stop any pursuers".

On Halloran IV two lances of mercenaries were marching towards a large woodland. A total of 8 mechs: 4 Chimeras forming a medium lance, an Owens scout and Bushwacker to accompany, and a pair of Atlas assault mechs, just in case. They were here because the Transpax Corporation was mounting counter strikes against planetary Militia. There were reports of Militia doing deals with unidentified traders. There was only one way to find out.

"Copy Big Momma, we'll be back before you know it". 'Big momma' was the call sign for Atlas number 1, the pilot of whom was married to Atlas number 2, callsign 'Big Daddy'. They could cover each other out of any situation. Although they were this close it was undeniable that Big Momma was made to be the Lance commander.

The Owens and the Bushwacker shot off from the pack at a hefty 80kmh and stomped away into the forest. Two minutes later the first clearing was in sight. The Owens crept forwards towards the tree-line and scanned the area. Nothing.

"Big Momma, clearing's… clear. Send in the Chimeras". The Owens trod out into the clearing to make sure. The Bushwacker followed the Owens through the clearing then radioed the Atlases for one last time.

"Big Momma, clearing is no mine field, tell Bastion to mark the opening as navpoint beta".

"Roger that Millennium, marking clearing as navpoint beta. Medium lance will be there shortly. Consider beta as the safe point. Get beyond beta on the way back and you'll be safe for sure. Switch to passive sensors, maintain heading 320 and switch to short range communications. See you soon".

The Bushwacker pilot was Richard "Millennium" Galeriak, and at 50 years of age he was the oldest pilot in the lance. Having undertaken 1,000 contracts he'd achieved the nickname Millennium. It was his job to escort the Owens nearer to the recon point than the rest could. Both mechs are hard to notice on the battlefield, the Bushwacker's low profile made it a hard visual target, and the Owens' body was at tree level, making it even harder to spot.

Pilotting the Owens was Alex "Westwood" Larkham. He'd received his nickname for having a distinct passion for custom layouts on his mechs, the name of an ancient icon of vehicle customisation.

After 10 minutes of cruising at 40kmh Millennium's hazy voice came in on Westwood's radio, "Alright Alex, we should be about a kilometre out from the meeting point. I suggest approaching slowly, we don't want them to hear you. Power down when you get there and we'll communicate using the Winch. Millennium out".

The Winch was a custom made device constructed specifically for missions like these. It consisted of over 1,000 metres of fibre optic cable, through which the two pilots could communicate, 21st century style. The Winch was attached to the back of the Owens. As it weighed barely anything compared to the weapons it didn't have any effect on the Owens performance.

As the Owens crept deeper into the forest the see through cable unravelled, trailing across the ground. If someone passed between the pair of mech no one would spot the cable. It was the perfect tool for the job.

Westwood continued forward until the edge of the forest was visible. The second clearing was up ahead, the objective point.


	2. Chapter 2

The second clearing was empty too. In the south eastern wall the wedge shaped head of the Owens slowly poked out. Two convoys of vehicles and mechs had already met in the centre of the clearing. It looked like the two parties were trading mechs. In the clearing there were around 20 different mechs, 14 of which were unoccupied. Six Clantech Shadow Cats were walking aimlessly around the clearing, patrolling the outskirts. At the sight of the guards Westwood took a step back so the Owens' head wasn't poking out of the trees. From a distance he was practically invisible, and with radar and radio off he was undetectable.

The pair of convoys had both brought along several goods including various tanks and vehicles, but the variety of mechs caught Westwood's eye. The mechs belonged to the unidentified convoy on the right. The convoy on the left was the militia convoy, and they were looking to buy big. As Westwood surveyed the mechs he realised some unknown models. Although his IFF wasn't on, the man who knew practically ever mech made in the last 30 years was his only contact.

Westwood spoke into his headset, "Millennium, I've got a visual on both convoys, one Militia convoy as expected, and one unknown convoy, could be Clanners".

"Negative, Clansmen wouldn't arrange something like this, must be standard mech traders. What mechs are they supplying?" If there was one person who could identify mechs from description it was Millennium.

"Ok, we've got 6 Shadow Cats on patrol, but they're sticking to the clearing. I count 4 more Shadow Cats for sale, 2 Cougar scout mechs… and I don't recognise the others. There's 7 Daishi like mechs, only they're much smaller"

"Sound like Ryokens, powerful medium mechs. If militia forces use a large number of those against Transpax Rigs they wouldn't stand a chance. I'll radio the information on to Big Momma, but first tell me what the one other mech is?"

Westwood had indeed only listed 19 of the mechs. The last was vastly different from the others, it was a large assault mech, "I've never seen anything like this one before. Let's start from the bottom up, it has forward folding legs, it looks like it's got a beer belly, the hands are long and thin, and the head swoops out over the beer belly". Millennium knew exactly what it was.

"Sounds like an Annihilator, haven't seen one of those in a while. Top speed of 30kmh if I remember correctly, but it can carry a large number of AC20s, deadly. Ok I'll radio Big Momma the information, you stay there until they're gone". Westwood turned his attention back to the trading. He could see the mechs easily enough, but as they were nearly a kilometre away, but he couldn't pick out human activity. If he powered up he could activate the Owens' magnifying mechanism, but it would mean detection. There were a number of pockets and compartments in his Owens. Westwood opened the compartment directly under his seat, pulling out a telescope. It was one used by an ancestor in 4th Sino-Japanese war between 2414 – 2420. On the side were Cyrillic markings which Westwood didn't understand, but he knew for sure that this was no ordinary telescope.

Westwood raised the telescope to his right eye and closed his left eye. Optical zoom was controlled by twisting the foreward section, just like a 2nd millennium telescope. Unlike a 2nd millennium telescope the zoom options were at intervals of 10 starting at 10 going all the way to 2000 times zoom. The lens was tinted purple to prevent giving away the user's location. There only a few telescopes like these remaining in the Inner Sphere.

Through the purple lens Westwood could see several people standing around the so called Annihilator, admiring it and discussing parts. It certainly was an impressive beast, the body was unlike anything he'd seen before, but according to Millennium it was an older design of mech. Surely it'd be no match for any modern assault mech.

Westwood zoomed further and looked at the main convoys. He saw two people shaking hands. One was wearing military uniform and the other was wearing a different sort of uniform. Using the 1500x zoom he could pick out a badge on the uniform.

"Millennium, the Militia are trading with the 'Burnt Ice Trading Company'. Do we have all the information we need yet?"

"Negative, Big Momma's demanded you find out which mechs get signed. Only then can you leave. Communicate back when and only when they're done"

"Roger". Millennium's coolness around the enemy, especially in covert missions often annoyed Westwood, but there was no one he'd rather have around in this sort of situation. Westwood was about to raise the telescope again but across the clearing something glinted. He wasn't the only one to notice either, as a second later 2 of the patrolling Shadow Cats turned towards where the glint had come from and fired hard. Some laser shots were fired back at the convoys, destroying a pair of Bulldog tanks. The Shadow Cats ran up the plateau's walls and into the forest, and a few seconds later Westwood clouds of smoke and heard a large explosion. The Shadow Cats returned unscathed to the clearing.

"Millennium, someone else was here too, they got nailed. Looks like we'd better get out of here too"

"They haven't seen you yet, stay there until-". There was static in Westwood's headset. Contact with Millennium had been lost. Now was a good time to think about heading back.

Westwood powered up the Owens. Nobody detected the power up, so Westwood began to creep away. When he was behind a few trees he flicked a switch and the Winch detached. He turned the Owens around 180 degrees and began to run, straight into what had destroyed the cable.

Westwood wasn't prepared for such an eventuality and ran straight into a Bulldog tank. Thirty five tons of mech came down fast on the Bulldog. The only possible result was for the tank to explode. As shrapnel flew everywhere the explosion had affected the Owens' well-being. The damage bars in the HUD turned from light green to yellow as the tank exploded. Most importantly however the explosion was loud. Everyone in the plateau heard the bang, and the Militia pack leader signalled for a pair of Shadow Cats to enter pursuit.

In the Bushwacker Millennium was trying to communicate with Westwood, "Westwood come in, Westwood, can you read me? Damn", he switch to radio communications and contacted the Atlases, "Big Momma, I've lost contact with Westwood. Suggest I go look for him… wait one, here he comes".

Over a kilometre away Millennium could just make out an Owens running at top speed through the dense forest. Behind the Owens were a pair of Shadow Cats, travelling faster than the lighter Owens. He heard a familiar voice on the radio.

"This is Westwood. Run"


	3. Chapter 3

Millennium didn't need to be told twice. The turned the Bushwacker to head for navpoint beta, the clearing. If they could make it to there they'd be fine.

"Big Momma, this is Millennium. I'm running alongside Westwood at 80kmh, we've got a pair of Shadow Cats at one five hundred metres, but they must be going about 40kmh faster. They'll be within firing range in minutes, requesting Chimera support".

The reply was down-beat, "Negative Millennium. The Chimeras got in a tangle with a lance of heavily armed light mechs and have been forced to retreat. I'll send Big Daddy to help, but he'll take a good 10 minutes to get to the clearing. Good luck boys". Great. Two slow mechs against a pair of faster and probably more heavily armed Clan mechs.

Millennium radioed Westwood with the bad news, "Westwood, we're on our own for this. Suggest you run ahead whilst I slow them down".

Westwood twisted to look at the Bushwacker, "Hayll no! We keep running, the clearing can't be far". He looked at the navpoint marker. The distance figure was in the 7000s. It would take them around 5 minutes to get there, much more than it would take the Shadow Cats to get into firing range, "Let's just hope they withdraw".

Ninety seconds later a pair of green beams shot past Westwood's mech. The Shadow Cats were in firing range. Millennium wasn't going to get taken down like this, "You go ahead kid, I'll hold them off here".

Before Westwood could reply Millennium's Bushwacker came to a halt and turned to face the oncoming Shadow Cats. Millennium fired the pulse lasers and his AC10 at one of the Shadow cats. It inflicted heavy damage to the centre torso, but as the old 20th century phrase goes, two heads are better than one. Westwood had come to a halt at a safe 700 metres away, the firing range of his large pulse laser. He watched as the pair of Shadow Cats slowed down as they approached Millennium's mech. The two Shadow Cats split up and circled to behind him. Millennium was trapped. As Westwood opened fire at one of the Shadow Cats both of them shot at the Bushwacker's leg, disabling it. Westwood heard Millennium on the radio, "Alex, get out of here quick, there's no hope for this old girl anymore. It's been a good run. Millennium ejecting".

Westwood watched hopelessly as for this first time in over 1,000 missions the Bushwacker fall over an ejector pod shot out of the cockpit into the sky. One of the Shadow Cats looked up at the pod. The other turned to face Westwood's mech. The Owens was already running off into the forest. Now that he wasn't accompanying a Bushwacker he could achieve a much higher speed, but still lower than that of the Shadow Cat.

In Westwood's rear view camera he could see the Shadow cat slowly closing in. It would take his pursuer a good 2 minutes to clear the distance, but the rest of the lance was at navpoint alpha, a good 15 kilometres away. Westwood was going to need a miracle to escape this guy.

Two minutes later and the navpoint was 2 kilometres away. Another 1 kilometre and he'd be in the clear, where it'd be easier for the Shadow Cat to get a shot. It was however the quickest way back, and it didn't look like he had a choice.

It wasn't long before shots were fired. Green beams connected with the Owens' torso as navpoint beta approached. It wouldn't be long until the Shadow Cats could use their short range missiles. Those would spell the end for Westwood for sure. Whilst it looked bleak for the far outclassed light mech, Westwood had one more trick up his sleeve.

A kilometre from the clearing the Shadow cat was still nearing. The Shadow Cat far outclassed the fleeing Owens. However there is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.

At 500 metres from the tree line Westwood bent down and grabbed a handle beneath his seat, beneath the telescope's compartment. Pulling this handle was his one hope of escape. As he pulled the handle a pair of slits opened. Napalm was considered illegal in the field of warfare since several human rights conventions, but everyone knows that the only rule on the battlefield is to survive, and this would lead to survival.

Napalm shot out of the slits, covering a 150 degree spread. The immediate area behind the Owens suddenly became ablaze, and the unfortunate Shadow Cat couldn't slow down in time. It ran straight through the fire, overheating on the way. The pilot inside the Shadow Cat couldn't see for the flames, so was surprised that his mech came to an abrupt halt, nearly throwing him off his seat. The mech's heat sinks kicked in and the flames soon cleared. The pilot saw what had stopped his mech so quickly. A large hunk of metal

As the pilot leaned forward and looked up he saw that it wasn't just a hunk of metal. It was a leg, and as the Shadow Cat took a few steps back he saw an enormous mech looking down on him. In the distance the fleeing Owens was running into the dense forest on the other side of the clearing. The pilot turned his attention back to the enormous mech. It was an Atlas. At 100 tons any assault pilot would avoid it. Now a medium mech, weighing half as much as the Atlas, was staring it straight in the face at point blank range.

To the Shadow Cat's surprise the Atlas slowly reversed towards the forest, presumably where his lance was. The Shadow Cat reversed away from the Atlas, disbelieving of the mercy. By the time the Atlas had disappeared he too was back in the dense forest, drenched in sweat. This would make one good story to tell the rest of his lance.


	4. Chapter 4

Westwood broke out of the forest where he met most of his lance. Sure enough the 4 Chimeras had been roughed up, one was even missing an arm. They were crowded around Big Momma's Atlas, like meerkat cubs surrounding a larger parental meerkat. When Westwood approached he was livid.

"Where the hell were you 4, Millennium's down thanks to your crummy mechs".

Big Momma intervened, "Now now Westwood, watch that mouth o' yours. You know what Clan scouts are like. A lance of Cougars is a good match for a Lance of Chimeras. We're just lucky we didn't lose any".

"What do you mean? We lost Millennium, and we would've lost me if… Wait, where's Big Daddy?" Westwood twisted the Owens' torso around, there was no sign of the second Atlas, but a deep voice came in over the radio.

"Taking care of your Shadow Cat friend, Westwood". Everyone turned towards the forest to see the head of Big Daddy's Atlas floating above the trees. As he emerged Big Momma turned towards the drop off point and the Chimeras quickly followed, leaving Westwood sulking in is Owens. Big Daddy approached Westwood, "Come on son, we'll get him back. Big Momma, Westwood and I will be at the back of the pack, you take the Chimeras up front".

As the mechs walked towards the drop ship Big Daddy consoled Westwood about Millennium, trying to convince him that wasn't the last they were to see of him. It was a corny image, like a big 100 ton mech reassuring his 35 ton mech son. It was fitting too, considering they were practically related.

Although Big Momma and Big Daddy were a unit, Big Momma's Chimera pilots were no relation to Big Daddy, and since his immediate family were killed during the Clan invasion around 12 years ago the closest thing to immediate family he had were Millennium, serving as a brother, and much younger Westwood. Ever since Big Daddy had developed a sense of mercy and kindness which helped people warm to him, especially as a fatherly figure.

As the pair talked Westwood noticed a plume of smoke growing in the distance behind them. The top of the plume shone, for it was in fact another drop ship. Westwood radioed Big Momma, "Drop ship 5 o'clock high!" Simultaneously all the mechs turned to face the plume of smoke and looked up at the plume of smoke. Big Momma and the Chimeras paid no notice and continued towards their drop ship. Big Daddy followed too. Westwood looked up at the rising drop ship, and knew that Millennium was onboard. He whipped out the telescope and turned it to the 2000x zoom. He couldn't make out any markings, but it was definitely a Hrothgar Dropship. The Hrothgar Dropship was a spherical shape with 4 thrusters at the bottom. It could carry a fair few mechs and several crew members. It was highly unlikely that the Militia he'd been spying on had any interest in a left behind escort pilot. Either way, Westwood was going to rescue Millennium, somehow. He turned and ran to the rest of the lances.


	5. Chapter 5

Despite the fact that a mercenary's loyalty was to the highest bidder, Big Momma had reluctantly accepted Westwood's request. Millennium had been a valuable member of the team and it would be a mistake not to rescue him. Unfortunately a mercenary's biggest problem is money, and this company was a stretch short of the equipment they needed.

"Westwood, I've got some bad news and some good news, followed by more possibly bad news. We're not actually following the traders. If we trade in the Chimeras and all our excess weapons then we should make enough money for 5 assault mechs. However, once we've hired an extra pilot to make the full lance, this leaves out you. The good news is that once we do have enough money you can choose your own assault mech. The extra news which can be taken either way is that in order to earn that money, we've booked you in for a full season in the Solaris VII light circuit".

For readers who don't know, Solaris VII is the home to the fiercest combat arenas in the Inner Sphere. The 3 main arenas consisted of a jungle arena, a factory arena and the Steiner Coliseum. Up to 16 mechs could compete in the arenas, however the light mech series isn't the most popular of series, so it was rare to get into double figures. The rules of the game were simple, survive. The top 3 finishers received a fine payment in C-bills, and often received kill bonuses.

Westwood had dreamed of being a Solaris pilot since he was a kid not long ago. His Dad used to compete in the light class too, in an old Firefly mech. It was factory fresh silver with a pair of red rings around the legs. He was a great pilot to watch, seemingly every match he'd take down 4 mechs. Every time, no matter what environment or arena 4 mechs would fall thanks to him. He qualified for the light mech final. Once again he took out 4, it all seemed to be going perfectly. The result of the match is why Westwood had gone of the sport ever since.

Having scored his 4 kills it looked like the Firefly was going to win, in his rookie year too. The final two however consisted of Westwood's Dad in the under-armed Firefly, and someone nobody in a Puma. The Puma wasn't like other light mechs. It was a squat clan mech which was capable of mounting a pair of particle projection cannons, or PPCs for short. The Puma wasn't designed to take up the role of scouting. Instead it was designed to take on medium and even some heavy mechs, or to slow down assault lances. It was formidable, and it destroyed Westwood's Dad's mech. To be more precise, it destroyed his Dad.

Whilst the pair of mechs had been circling each other the Firefly began walking down an incline, just before the Puma fired at the Firefly's torso. The added elevation sent the shot away from the torso, straight into the cockpit. They never found a body.

For 14 years now the action was engraved in Westwood's memory. His dad's metallic Firefly taking a deadly blow from a jet black Puma with a pair of silver stripes running down the centre. The mech had evil written all over it.

Ever since Westwood's dream of being a Solaris pilot turned into a nightmare. For weeks he'd have dreams of piloting a mech, even though he had no idea what the inside of mech looked like, and each time he'd encounter the Puma. The same Puma, and it would turn to his mech, raise its arms, and there'd be a quick blue flash from its arms. Then he'd wake up drenched in sweat.

Westwood couldn't sleep that night. There was no way he could go to Solaris. What if the Puma was still active, what if his nightmares became a reality. Big Daddy tried reassuring Westwood, "Alex, your dad got killed over 10 years ago, very few people stay on the light circuit for long. Why, I remember when I fought in Solaris-"

"You fought in Solaris?" Westwood's eyes widened.

"Sure did. I didn't stay on the light circuit for long, there's no money in it. The big action was in the assaults. Big guns means big pay too, you could get up to 5 million C-Bills for winning an event, over twice as much as in the light circuit. If that Puma pilot is still out there chances are he's moved on from the light circuits. If you've been on Solaris for 14 years running, you'd be playing in the championships by now. Don't worry about him".

It worked. Westwood took comfort in the fact that the light circuit was unpopular. The Puma pilot was probably into his 40s or 50s now anyway. He was probably long gone from Solaris. Who knows, maybe Westwood would even make a name for himself at Solaris, could secure a few more contracts. Touchdown would be in 6 days.


	6. Chapter 6

Six days later the crew were on Solaris VII. Westwood's first match would take place in 3 days time, just enough time to prepare his mech for battle. He weapons set up already, a pair of Clantech 'Streak' short range missile, or SSRM, launchers and a large pulse laser. The Owens would wait for action in a hangar. Around the hangar were various other light mechs. The crews were all separated by office style walls, as if each mech had its own little cubicle.

Westwood approached the hangar in his Owens. As the hangar door opened Westwood looked around. There were several Fleas, which wasn't surprising as those mechs were cheap. The chassis alone cost less than 2 million C-bills. Add a couple of machine guns and lasers and you could compete. Its main advantage was that it could outrun anything ever built. There wasn't even a Clan mech faster than the Flea. Of course that didn't mean it packed a punch.

As Westwood scanned the hangar he saw Ullers, Cougars, Osirises, even a brand new Wolfhound, but no Puma. It had probably been banned. Such a mech didn't belong in a competition involving scouts. With that said, the Wolfhound didn't exactly have the build of a scout. It looked more like a miniature Atlas than a standard scout mech. It looked like it packed quite a punch.

Westwood found his designated bay and powered down. He was parked between a pair of Ullers. The Owens towered over the two Cougars, giving Westwood a sense of superiority, but it was no secret that Cougars packed one heck of a punch. A combination of large lasers and long range missiles, or LRMs, it was capable of taking out an opponent at any range.

Westwood was met by a series of options, did he want to exchange money for weapons, weapons for armour or speed, etcetera. But there was only one thing Westwood wanted changing. The paint job.

The Owens was still wearing the woodland camouflage from Halloran. The replacement scheme was an obvious choice, and maybe the reference would be realised by fans. After a few hours the Owens was bright silver, and a pair of red rings were being spray painted on the legs. By the cockpit Westwood had inscribed the corny line: "This time it's personal"

After a few days of rest and tourism the first light match of the season was about to commence. Westwood and 5 other mechs marched into the first arena. It was a hilly jungle arena, with a large lake in one corner, and a mock volcano in the opposite corner. With several trees dotted around the arena, it was understandable that several pilots found this arena tricky.

As Westwood took position and checked his instruments a loud voice echoed around the arena and off the towering walls.

"It's the weekend Solaris fans, and that means it's the first match of the season. This is Duncan fisher bringing you the play by play as we prepare for the lightweight series. Boy do we have a line-up for you today, there are some real up and comers in today's match, I wouldn't be surprised if we see some of these guys qualify for medium or, heck maybe beyond. These guys are hungry for it!"

There was a second of silence, but then the sound of a klaxon filled the arena. The match had begun.


	7. Chapter 7

As the klaxon sounded a few radar blips appeared on Westwood's radar. He selected the nearest, it was 300 metres and closing, fast. He turned to face the opponent and began running. The IFF confirmed that the oncoming mech was an Osiris. A typical scout mech, it could run faster than the Owens and carried Inner Sphere SRMs (the difference was that clan SRMs had a guidance system), several lasers and according to the HUD a machine gun. No clan technology though, which is where the Owens' missiles excelled.

The distance between the two decreased rapidly, but there was a hill separating them. Over the brow of the hill the Osiris came storming down towards Westwood. Instinctively he let loose with the large pulse laser. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the concept, it's like a laser machine gun, firing bursts. The larger the laser, the bigger the damage and range, but also the bigger the heat generation. Westwood couldn't risk overusing it.

The Osiris seemed undeterred by the laser onslaught, but its damage bars in Westwood's HUD said otherwise. The centre torso icon had turned to orange. The centre torso was always a good place to hit. Whilst armour traditionally built up around the centre torso it was the most effective place to shoot.

When taking on a mech you have 2 choices of attack. Fire strategically at different body parts to destroy weapons or even disable legs. Alternatively you can fire everything you've got at the centre torso. Westwood was executing the latter technique on this opponent.

Westwood fired his 2nd and 3rd weapon group and both SSRM launchers fired 6 missiles each. They made a beeline for the Osiris' torso, which took the damage icon to red. The Osiris retaliated with medium laser fire, but he missed. It would cost him greatly. As the lasers recycled Westwood was able to fire some laser and missile shots into the centre torso so its icon was flashing red. A few more hits and he'd have scored his first Solaris kill. He fired the large pulse laser.

The beams struck the Osiris' torso directly in the middle. It lurched to the side and fell over, beams of light crept out of cracks appearing all over the body, and then a few seconds later it exploded. As it exploded the klaxon went off, and the commentator added, "that's the first mech for the scrap heap!"

Westwood was ecstatic. Now he could see why his dad was so enthusiastic about this sport. Although competitive fighting sounded stupid, when the attacking wasn't directed at the pilot it was a different story. You could say it was fun.

There was no time for contemplation though. Westwood began to walk away from the exploded mech, satisfied with his achievement. A few seconds later the female voice in his cockpit piped up, "enemy detected". Sure enough on the radar some blips appeared. Scrolling through them there were 2 more Osirises, a Raven and a Flea. The Osirises and Raven were clustered together but the Flea was nearing him. As he was about to turn to fight it, an unfamiliar voice came in on the radio.

"Hey, what say you and I play nice? Friends 'til we take the rest of these jokers out? I've keyed you in as a friendly on my IFF". An ally, just what Westwood's confidence needed, even if it was a Flea. It made for an easier target in the final two.

Westwood rendezvoused with his new rival. Sure enough his radar showed a blue dot where the Flea was, and the Flea didn't shoot. There were probably rules against teaming up like this, but the faster this was over, the better.

The pilot of the Flea had sounded young, and he looked young too. He looked barely over 18, it wasn't a big surprise that he'd chosen the cheapest mech then. Youth wasn't always bad though, it meant that he had faster reactions, which could compensate for lack of firepower and experience.

As the pair met the Klaxon sounded. A blip disappeared from the radar. Another Osiris had been taken out. That left a Raven and an Osiris. Westwood looked at the Flea and decided to take charge.

"I'll take go for the Osiris you take the Raven". But the Flea pilot wasn't having any of that.

"Shush you, we may be allies but you're not my boss". With that the Flea stormed off to the other mechs. Westwood watched the Flea approach the Raven and Osiris, lasers and machine guns ablaze. Unfortunately the small lasers and machine guns did very little damage, so Westwood decided to help.

The Owens thundered across the arena towards the large lake the Raven and the one remaining Osiris came into sight. Both were damaged heavily. The right side of the Raven's torso was engulfed in flames. It didn't look like he'd last long, and Westwood took this as an opportunity.

He fired all his weapons at the Raven, striking the right hand torso. As the last missiles hit the right torso icon turned black, a critical hit. Now it was time to focus on the centre torso. Its icon was flashing red. Westwood fired the pulse laser twice. As the beams hit the Raven it fell over. The centre torso icon had turned black, and soon its blip would disappear from the radar. Just like the Osiris he'd taken out, light seeped out of appearing cracks in the fallen Raven's torso, and then, it exploded and the klaxon sounded.

"That's that pilot's second kill, amazing". The commentator almost made the sport, even though spectators couldn't see the game live for an unknown reason his commentary was broadcast to the spectators. It certainly pumped some pilots for battle.

Westwood's next opponent had been standing right next to the Raven when it exploded. Because he'd been firing at the Flea he hadn't noticed Westwood's kill, and as a result got struck by shrapnel and the sheer force of the blast. His damage icons were all flashing red. The torso, legs, arms, everything was highly damaged. Westwood seized the opportunity and fired a volley of SSRMs at the Osiris' torso. It too fell to the ground and exploded, just like the others.

Westwood was thrilled, 3 kills in his first ever match, he was living the dream. In his state of victory he barely heard the Flea pilot on the radio.

"Nice gaming with you kid, now it's just you and me. Good luck". Westwood received small laser and machine gun fire. Whilst it appeared to do no damage he had trouble getting a shot back. The Flea ran circles around the Owens. Westwood would have to be clever to win this.

The Flea appeared in Westwood's crosshairs. He fired the SSRMs and struck the Flea's leg. A female voice spoke into Westwood's headset, "Ammunition depleted". No more guided weapons. As he ran out of ammo the centre torso icon for his mech turned yellow. The Flea may have had little fire power, but it was persistent, and that could spell disaster.

Westwood turned on the offensive. The Flea's right light icon was orange. That, combined with the fact that the Flea's armaments were short range, was all the information Westwood needed.

The Flea continued to circle Westwood, but when the Owens reversed out of the circle the Flea pilot had no game plan. The Flea came to a halt as the pilot pondered his next move. As he stopped Westwood fired a few bursts at the Flea's right leg, turning its damage icon to flashing red. He fired again but the Flea was on the run so he missed. The Flea was closing fast, dodging left and right. Westwood fired again, and scored.

The Flea's right leg burst into flames and became limp. Exactly what Westwood needed. He ran away from the Flea to get out of its firing range, turned to face the Flea and unleashed the laser on its torso. After a fair few bursts the Flea gave up. It tripped over its limp leg and fell to the ground and exploded. The Klaxon went off and there were no more blips on the radar.

A voice blared around the arena, "And we have a winner. His name is… Westwood, I've never heard of the kid before, but that was one heck of a performance. His paint job looks familiar too. Who knows, maybe we'll get a word with him in the after hour show. For now, this is Duncan Fisher, signing off".


	8. Chapter 8

Westwood's first performance had made a good impression on Solaris fans. Already he had a number of fans eager to see his next game. But before that his mech had an appointment with his pit crew.

"Centre torso looks a little damaged Westwood". To his surprise he was greeted by one of the Chimera pilots from his lance. Westwood had never socialised with the Chimera pilots. He'd always got along better with Millennium, and since the Chimera pilots were partially responsible for Millenniums capture Westwood had no intention of suddenly being nice.

"Yeah, must be weird to look at a mech that can actually take damage". Westwood turned his pit crew and ordered repairs.

"Westwood, Alex. I do feel guilty about Millennium, but it's not my faulty I pilot a weak mech. Big Momma chooses all the mechs. She lets you choose your own mech because you're not part of a big lance, and Momma likes having set squadrons. Your Owens and Millennium's Bushwacker were chosen independently". This didn't make a difference to Westwood.

"Why do you not complain? They're useless mechs!"

"They do look quite awesome though". She had a point, the Chimera was a unique mech and it certainly excelled in the looks department. With tall shoulders, an offset cockpit, and a massive inbuilt missile launcher in the other side of the torso it was easily one of the coolest mechs around.

"Yeah they do. I suppose I'm partially to blame with a lack of firepower too. Ok, you're forgiven. By the way, what's your name?"

The Chimera pilot seemed surprised at Westwood's question, "They call me Mirage, just because I like short mechs. Works for me. You're Westwood right?"

Before Westwood could agree and introduce himself properly he was interrupted by a tap on the shoulder and a familiar voice. He turned around to see a camera crew and the commentator from the match.

"Hello, I'm Duncan Fisher, commentator for the Solaris matches. You probably heard some of my commentary. Listen, I loved your performance today and we'd be thrilled if you could join us tomorrow on the after hour show. We've got a heavy match in the factory if you want to join us in the commentary box. What do you say kid?" It was the most famous voice in Solaris, Duncan Fisher used to be a Solaris pilot himself. Apparently he made his name in the medium circuit, but that was a few years after Westwood went off the sport altogether.

"Er, sure. I'm mostly a light mech person, but yeah I'd be honoured. Count me in".

"Excellent, meet me outside the arena tomorrow at 4, you can't miss me". With that he coolly walked off and left Westwood basking in the warm glow of impending fame.


	9. Chapter 9

The next day Westwood received his prize for winning the light match. When he checked his Owens he saw a brown envelope on the pilot seat. Inside was a letter, it read:

'Congratulations 'Westwood'. You have placed first in a jungle light match competition and have qualified for the rest of the season. More importantly, first place means first prize. Show this letter to an interplanetary bank to gain:

Position Prize: 1,500,000 C-Bills

Kill Bonus: 800,000 C-Bills

We hope to see you in the next match"

Westwood was amazed, he was already a large fraction of the way to buying an assault mech, but he knew the competition would get tougher from here on in. Besides, the pit crew needed paying for refitting ammunition and repairing armour. What harm could it do to complete the series?

At 3pm Westwood was in a bus travelling to an arena. Everyone else from the company had been to join him, Big Momma and Big Daddy, and the 4 Chimera pilots. Westwood sat on his own looking out the window at the scenery. It was far fancier than back on Outreach, several large buildings, from glamorous commercial buildings to private business buildings, Solaris VII certainly looked like a fancy planet.

As they cruised along a boulevard one of the Chimera pilots walked along the bus so she was facing Westwood.

"Hey Alex, you're actually going to get to see a factory match live?" Westwood grunted in agreement, but the Chimera pilot continued, "You know, ever since I was a girl on Halloran I've dreamt of being on this planet one day. Thanks to you, I'm here".

Westwood turned to face her, "Thanks Mirage, but I can't wait until the season's over. I've got bad memories of here".

"You've been here before? Wow, tell me more". And so Westwood told the haunting tale of how he lost his father to Solaris. By the time he'd finished they had arrived at the factory arena. Just like the jungle arena the outside was composed of walls 200 metres tall. The rest of Westwood's company would get to wait outside the arena, watching the match on a big screen. Meanwhile, Westwood himself would watch the match from a hanging booth in the centre of the arena.

As Westwood and Mr Fisher were raised up to the booth he could see the mechs walking in. Although he'd never piloted a heavy mech before he recognised all of them from previous missions. There were a fair few Clan mechs to Westwood's surprise, including probably the best known mech ever, the Mad Cat. Although some people call it a Timber Wolf, Mad Cat sounded much cooler, and definitely suited the mech's personality.

It could carry a dizzying number rockets compared to his Owens, but rather than using the arms for the rockets it carried a pair of rocket silos on its shoulders. Beside the large bullet shaped cockpit were the arms, capable of carrying a good amount of laser fire power. And beneath the cockpit lay some Clan speciality, Omnitech hard points. This meant that any of the 3 classes of weapon could be installed in these hard points, which meant an opponent could never be 100% sure of what they were going to be up against. It made for a truly awesome mech.

Various other heavy mechs were dotted around the factory, various new models like the Black Knight, which looked indeed more like a knight than a mech. It even had a shield attached to one arm, and a novelty head resting above the torso rather than in it. It too could carry a deadly amount of firepower, but mainly laser weapons rather than ammunitions types.

Other heavies included the Inner Sphere's Thanatos. Thanatos was the daemon personification of death. Fitting, as it was capable of carrying a good amount of ballistic weapons along with a range of missile and beam slots. It was also one of a select few mechs whose torso could twist through 360 degrees.

Also in the 360 degree group was the Clan tech Vulture. Designed for the role of supporting fire it could hold even more rockets than the Mad Cat, it was formidable. Similar to the Bushwacker its body didn't stand out and often pilots could underestimate it as a foe. However its ability to mount light ballistic weapons made it noticed.

Westwood's attention turned back Duncan Fisher.

"Ok Westwood. Take a good look at the action beneath us and take a good note of who's who. When we do the after hour show I'll ask you a few questions about this match and your one yesterday. Hold on one minute". Duncan turned to his microphone, "Hello Solaris fans, I'm seated above one of Solaris' most popular arenas. You know what that means? That's right, it's factory time! We've got a good range of mechs for today and it looks like they're ready to go, so let's jump right in".

The klaxon sounded.


	10. Chapter 10

Westwood was amazed by the amount of firepower the heavy mechs supplied. If rescuing Millennium then purchasing assault mechs was a no brainer. That said every pilot in Solaris would stand no chance out in the battlefield. There was no fear of being captured in Solaris and at the end of the day you're all friends, not mortal enemies. The performance of the traders' defenders would be far better than these guys, and these guys happened to be spectacular.

Some of the firepower came from Gauss rifles, magnetic weapons which inflicted heavy damage. Light models had ranges of over a kilometre, but shorter distance models often had bigger calibres, meaning bigger damage. Mix these weapons with more rockets and larger lasers made for one hell of a fire fight.

Not only did the mechs have a lot of firepower, they could actually move too. Unlike the Atlases he'd worked with, the heavies could reach speeds the exciting side of 70 kmh. Having been interested in the Mad Cat since childhood he knew that it could reach speeds in the triple figures. That was as fast as his Owens, but at about twice the tonnage. It was any scout mech's worst dream.

As Westwood daydreamed about the sketches he had drawn of Mad Cats as a kid he heard the klaxon sound. He looked around and saw an exploding Mad Cat. So much for his childhood hero.

After a few minutes 2 more mechs had hit the floor, a Thanatos and a Thor. The Thor looked like a typical mech, offset cockpit, offset missile rack and a box shaped body. They'd put up a good fight and all the other mechs were highly damaged. The 3 remaining mechs consisted of the stealthy Vulture, its Inner Sphere counterpart, the Catapult, and an older mech, the Orion. This would make for one good fight.

The pair of support mechs instinctively turned on the Orion. It may have been an older mech, but it was certainly a capable mech none the less. It mounted an array of heavy weapons. The pilot looked like he had some serious experience too. There were several rows of chocks beneath the cockpit, there must have been over 500. His experience certainly showed in his fighting.

All the lasers in the arms fired at once, striking the Catapult's centre torso. The shock of the inflicted damage knocked the injured mech backwards onto the factory floor. You could sense the smugness on the Orion's pilot's face, although it was short lived.

In firing the lasers he hadn't heard the missile alert sound. There was little he could do to evade the missiles. Around 40 long range missiles sped towards the Orion. All 40 struck the right side of the torso, inflicting severe damage. The Orion retaliated by firing the lasers in its arms at the Vulture's left leg, completely taking it out. Both his opponents were seriously crippled, but their allegiance still stood.

Westwood was quietly cheering on the Orion. It was a classic case of an old legend being teamed up against by two disrespectful young opponents. With the deadlier Vulture crippled the Orion turned back to the Catapult lined up a shot. Unfortunately by the time he'd lined up both the Catapult and Vulture had a lock on the Orion.

The two rocket mechs fired a multitude of missiles at the Orion. He fired back at the Catapult's torso, hitting square in the middle, taking it out. A split second later the rockets sent the Orion into oblivion. The pilot barely had enough time to eject. Duncan Fisher concluded the match with a quick comment on the double kill, but Westwood was paying homage to the fallen giant.

Fisher turned to Westwood, "So kid, what did you think that? Hope you've got some good stuff to say in the show now. Cya there".


	11. Chapter 11

"Good evening Solaris fans, I'm Duncan Fisher and this is the After hour show. We've got a real line up of guests tonight, including yesterdays light match runaway winner, 'Westwood'. But first what about this afternoon's heavy match? With us today we have the Vulture pilot who won one of the most exciting heavy fights in the history of the sport. Here she is, Li Tao!"

As the audience applauded the victorious Vulture pilot Westwood realised the awkwardness of what he had thought in the booth earlier. If the Orion pilot had been the guest in the show he could've relaxed, but for now he'd have to switch to his linguistic skills.

Awkward minutes passed as Fisher continued to praise the Vulture pilot. Westwood had nearly thought of a polite line to use, but then he heard Fisher announce his entrance.

"Welcome back from the break. We've just been talking to today's winner Li Tao. But watching with me from the booth was yesterday's light match victor. So let's give him a big hand for his first Solaris victory, Westwood!"

Westwood strolled onto the stage waving at the crowd. He took a seat next to Li and instantly Fisher started interviewing.

"So Alex, if we can call you that? Good. Firstly congratulations on your first ever Solaris appearance as well as victory. Tell us, why the Owens?"

Westwood had no idea what sort of questions to expect, but this sort of question was easy.

"Well Duncan, when I was little my dad was also a Solaris pilot. When he… passed away, we used his winnings to feed my family, but for my 16th birthday I got an Owens. Let me tell you, the best birthday present ever".

"Ok so it's got sentimental value, but why not choose one of the more advanced mechs, or do you not have a big income day job?" He could tell Fisher was trying to make a scene, affectionately of course, but this is what made good TV.

"Hehe, I could afford a Flea I suppose" the audience laughed lightly at the response, "nah, I love the Owens, we've gone through many missions together-"

"Oh, we've got a soldier in Solaris again?" The crowd were prompted to "ooo" which only made Westwood embarrassed.

"Not exactly, I work for a company as a scout…" It kept getting worse. Westwood couldn't remember there being any rules against having military experience, how else could his father have obtained the Firefly?

"Haha, don't worry kid we're just messing with you. The Owens is a good mech. Why, I remember when I was on the light circuit, the hardest opponent I ever faced was never the Osiris or the Raven. Nah, it was the Owens. With a skilled mechanic you can fit hard hitting laser and rocket weapons. I'd say that that's always been the hardest mech I've faced. Well, except for this Firefly one time…" Westwood's ears pricked up.

"You knew my father?" He covered his mouth right after he said that. Some members of the crowd gasped, others laughed at the stereotypical line.

After a few seconds of working things out Fisher spoke up, "You mean, your paint job wasn't a coincidence. I knew I recognised those markings. You're Larkham's boy…" He turned to the audience, "well Solaris fans, that's some controversy we've had today. We're going to finish the show early today, but don't worry, we'll have some great action for you tomorrow".


	12. Chapter 12

Over a few months Westwood fought in solitude. He rarely spoke to the company. Although there was little passion in his play he often racked up 4 mechs. His cold natured playing had earned him the nickname 'Iceman'. His gathering of fans increased too. Soon enough his nickname became his Solaris callsign. He'd even written it on his helmet.

Eventually Westwood had placed in the final. It would be held in the Steiner Coliseum. It was the one arena in which spectators could see the game with their own eyes rather than on a screen. Steiner's slogan for the coliseum was "The way it was supposed to be". Not many disagreed.

In the Coliseum, rather than all the mechs entering through one entrance, the mechs entered the arena through their own gateways. Just like in the Coliseums from over 3000 years ago, when the portcullis rose, it was game time.

"It's a beautiful day here at Steiner's Coliseum. The fans are really taking advantage of the open arena, crowding in to see their favourites fight their way to victory. We've got a record number of fans here watching this match, and even the number of those who are watching at home is at an all time too, so it should be one hell of a fight!" Fisher was right, the Coliseum was packed to the brim. Westwood wondered why the numbers were so high, but before he could piece anything together, the klaxon sounded and the portcullis rose. Showtime.

Westwood stormed out into the Coliseum and the applause became suddenly louder. He smiled and turned to face his first victim.

A bright pink Raven came under Westwood's crosshairs. The Raven turned to face Westwood too, and was visibly scared. The Raven let loose his small pulse lasers, but Westwood's larger pulse laser was far more effective. After several bursts from the laser and some SSRMs the Raven fell and the Klaxon sounded. Westwood didn't even pause for the explosion. He was one victory away from securing an assault mech to go get Millennium back with, so he needed to keep his cool for this match.

The crowd went wild as the Raven fell, but Westwood was undeterred by the weight on his shoulders. The next closest mech was a Wolfhound, circling another Wolfhound. The klaxon sounded as a mech fell across the other end of the Coliseum, but Westwood paid no notice. His attention was fully on the pair of Wolfhounds. Westwood waited until one of them was in flames and then he struck.

One of the Wolfhound's torso icon began to flash red. He fired the pulse laser as he stormed towards the duelling mechs. Thanks to his vastly improved accuracy his scored a critical hit. The injured Wolfhound fell and the crowd roared again. The Klaxon sounded as the mech exploded, right next to the other Wolfhound. It was blackened from the amount of hits it had taken. An easy next target for Westwood.

He fired his SSRMs and took out the Wolfhound. His third mech fell and was destroyed. The crowd unexpectedly fell silent. There was no voiceover from Duncan Fisher, but Westwood couldn't detect any other mechs, or even see any. He moved slowly and cautiously towards the centre of the Coliseum. No mechs in sight. He stopped at the centre of the Coliseum, beneath a large set of arches. The centre of the Coliseum had a pair of large arches facing each other. Westwood stood underneath one of them in case he was being watched. And sure enough, he was.

After thirty seconds of unbearable silence Westwood found his last opponent. The last mech strolled out and stopped underneath the opposite arch. As both mechs faced each other the tension was unbearable. Standing across the Coliseum was a squat jet black mech. It looked as if it carried a shell on its back, like a turtle. However it wasn't a turtle. It was a Puma.


	13. Chapter 13

As Westwood stared open mouthed at the Puma. The pilot spoke to Westwood on the radio, "This is Maverick. Judging by your paint scheme I expect you know who I am. You're Larkham's boy right? I didn't mean to kill your father, so surrender now or the same will happen to you".

"Negative, you'll be lucky if I don't return the favour". From that moment the ice-cold Westwood ceased to exist. The old soulful Westwood was reborn, and he was ready to do some ass-kicking.

"Fine then, it's your funeral". With that the Puma ran at Westwood. Instead of running at the Puma Westwood reversed out of the arches and down a steep incline. He knew that in a one on one against the Puma he was far outclassed in damage and range. Against this pilot he was outclassed in experience too. He'd have to use some inspired moves to beat this guy.

Even as the Puma sprinted at Westwood the crowd remained silent. This was the light mech duel of the century, and no one was going to miss this in a hurry.

Westwood glanced at his radar, still nothing. The Puma must be using passive sensors, which meant he was undetectable when he was over 250 metres away. Eventually a blip did appear, right behind the Owens.

Westwood kicked the Owens into high speed, just as a pair of blue rays shot past his cockpit. The twin PPCs that the Puma mounted were deadly to any class of mech, let alone light mechs. However they did have some big disadvantages. When they were used in unison they generated colossal amounts of heat. They also had a large recycle time, which Westwood would have to use as his advantage.

Westwood turned to face the Puma and fired all his weapons at the Pumas right arm. Its damage icon quickly turned to Orange, and after a few more clean shots from the large pulse laser it was red. Westwood was on the run to try avoiding the PPCs, but the Puma pilot was a sharp shooter. The PPC in the right arm fired at Westwood's right hand missile rack. He was using the same tactics as him, disable the weapons first.

The Owens' torso lurched sideways but Westwood soon corrected it. His right arm icon turned yellow too. The Puma fired his second PPC but missed. Westwood fired the pulse laser at the Puma's left arms this time. Combined with the SSRMS its icon turned red. Thanks to the bad recycle time of PPCs Westwood managed to get in a few more laser shots, turning the left arm's icon flashing red. A few more shots and it would be destroyed.

The Puma fired both PPCs this time, striking Westwood's right missile rack. This missile rack blew up and knocked the Owens' torso off course again. Westwood fired the left arm's SSRMs at the Pumas left arm. The arm blew up and the Puma's firepower had been halved. This battle was going to be close.

The Puma fired his remained PPC and accelerated into a walk. Both mechs had a torso twist range of 90 degrees each way, so they ended up circling each other in one corner of the Coliseum. Westwood fired his last 6 SSRMs at the Puma, this time at the centre torso. The Puma responded by slowing down to get a better shot at Westwood. He'd got him mad now.

The particle projection cannon spoke again, striking Westwood in the centre torso. The damage icon for the centre torso and more importantly the large pulse laser turned yellow. He returned laser fire at the right arm, otherwise before long he'd have no firepower left.

The pulse laser struck the right arm accurately 3 times and Westwood's hopes came true. The right arm fell off, completely disarming the Puma. The crowd cheered and Westwood stopped in front of the halted Puma.

"Ok Mav, you can surrender your mech to my lasers and I'll let you live. Move a muscle and I'll shoot the cockpit". Westwood grinned as he lined up the crosshair at the centre torso. But the Puma pilot had other plans.

"Negative Iceman, the match is over". Westwood didn't understand until a few seconds later the Puma's cockpit exploded and an ejector seat flew up into the sky. The crowd began booing the act of cowardliness. If the pilot ejected it didn't count as a kill, so ejecting when you had no weapons left could be views as extreme cowardice.

Amongst the booing Westwood could see a small boy in the front row shouting something at him. People around him looked at him and started yelling the same. Before long the whole Coliseum was chanting it.

"Go for four, go for four!" Although he may not have been able to avenge his father's death properly, the murderer's mech was unattended. Westwood closed his eyes and pressed the left most button on his control stick.

The crowd applauded as the large pulse laser slowly blasted the Puma apart. The laser's attack was relentless, the Puma was quickly engulfed in flames. The female voice inside Westwood's mech spoke up, "Warning, heat exceeding recommended level". The laser ceased.

The centre of the Puma was engulfed in flames. It was complete wreck. Both arms were destroyed. Westwood was about to fire again, but the Puma began to move. It tilted slowly backwards. Even its feet weren't flat on the floor. Comically the Puma accelerated backwards towards the floor and crashed down to the ground. That was a good enough revenge for Westwood. He was pleased, the crowd were over the moon, and he was pretty sure that wherever his father was he was pleased too.


	14. Chapter 14

Westwood stared open mouthed at the Puma. The pilot spoke to Westwood on the radio, "This is Maverick. Judging by your paint scheme I expect you know who I am. You're Larkham's boy right? I didn't mean to kill your father, so surrender now or the same will happen to you".

"Negative, you'll be lucky if I don't return the favour". From that moment the ice-cold Westwood ceased to exist. The old soulful Westwood was reborn, and he was ready to do some ass-kicking.

"Fine then, it's your funeral". With that the Puma ran at Westwood. Instead of running at the Puma, Westwood reversed out of the arches and down a steep incline. He knew that in a one on one against the Puma he was far outclassed in damage and range. Against this pilot he was outclassed in experience too. He'd have to use some inspired moves to beat this guy.

Even as the Puma sprinted at Westwood the crowd remained silent. This was the light mech duel of the century, and no one was going to miss this in a hurry.

Westwood glanced at his radar, still nothing. The Puma must be using passive sensors, which meant he was undetectable when he was over 250 metres away. Eventually a blip did appear, right behind the Owens.

Westwood kicked the Owens into high speed, just as a pair of blue rays shot past his cockpit. The twin PPCs that the Puma mounted were deadly to any class of mech, let alone light mechs. However they did have some big disadvantages. When they were used in unison they generated colossal amounts of heat. They also had a large recycle time, which Westwood would have to use as his advantage.

Westwood turned to face the Puma and fired all his weapons at the Pumas right arm. Its damage icon quickly turned to Orange, and after a few more clean shots from the large pulse laser it was red. Westwood was on the run to try avoiding the PPCs, but the Puma pilot was a sharp shooter. The PPC in the right arm fired at Westwood's right hand missile rack. He was using the same tactics as him, disable the weapons first.

The Owens' torso lurched sideways but Westwood soon corrected it. His right arm icon turned yellow too. The Puma fired his second PPC but missed. Westwood fired the pulse laser at the Puma's left arms this time. Combined with the SSRMS its icon turned red. Thanks to the bad recycle time of PPCs Westwood managed to get in a few more laser shots, turning the left arm's icon flashing red. A few more shots and it would be destroyed.

The Puma fired both PPCs this time, striking Westwood's right missile rack. This missile rack blew up and knocked the Owens' torso off course again. Westwood fired the left arm's SSRMs at the Pumas left arm. The arm blew up and the Puma's firepower had been halved. This battle was going to be close.

The Puma fired his remained PPC and accelerated into a walk. Both mechs had a torso twist range of 90 degrees each way, so they ended up circling each other in one corner of the Coliseum. Westwood fired his last 6 SSRMs at the Puma, this time at the centre torso. The Puma responded by slowing down to get a better shot at Westwood. He'd got him mad now.

The particle projection cannon spoke again, striking Westwood in the centre torso. The damage icon for the centre torso and more importantly the large pulse laser turned yellow. He returned laser fire at the right arm, otherwise before long he'd have no firepower left.

The pulse laser struck the right arm accurately 3 times and Westwood's hopes came true. The right arm fell off, completely disarming the Puma. The crowd cheered and Westwood stopped in front of the halted Puma.

"Ok Mav, you can surrender your mech to my lasers and I'll let you live. Move a muscle and I'll shoot the cockpit". Westwood grinned as he lined up the crosshair at the centre torso. But the Puma pilot had other plans.

"Negative Iceman, the match is over". Westwood didn't understand until a few seconds later the Puma's cockpit exploded and an ejector seat flew up into the sky. The crowd began booing the act of cowardliness. If the pilot ejected it didn't count as a kill, so ejecting when you had no weapons left could be views as extreme cowardice.

Amongst the booing Westwood could see a small boy in the front row shouting something at him. People around him looked at him and started yelling the same. Before long the whole Coliseum was chanting it.

"Go for four, go for four!" Although he may not have been able to avenge his father's death properly, the murderer's mech was unattended. Westwood closed his eyes and pressed the left most button on his control stick.

The crowd applauded as the large pulse laser slowly blasted the Puma apart. The laser's attack was relentless, the Puma was quickly engulfed in flames. The female voice inside Westwood's mech spoke up, "Warning, heat exceeding recommended level". The laser ceased.

The centre of the Puma was engulfed in flames. It was complete wreck. Both arms were destroyed. Westwood was about to fire again, but the Puma began to move. It tilted slowly backwards. Even its feet weren't flat on the floor. Comically the Puma accelerated backwards towards the floor and crashed down to the ground. That was a good enough revenge for Westwood. He was pleased, the crowd were over the moon, and he was pretty sure that wherever his father was he was pleased too.


	15. Chapter 15

After the Podium ceremony Westwood received his prize, a cool 3 million C-Bills. He'd now totalled 16 million. Nearly enough to buy any assault mech on the market, but choosing wouldn't be easy.

There were several dealerships on Solaris, and plenty of them sold assault mechs. Each had a wide variety of choice, some even selling Clan Tech assault mechs. After much consideration Westwood chose a Mauler

The Mauler, like nearly all assault mechs, was tall. A pair of slanted missile racks towered above the small cockpit which in turn was attached to a pair of large arms. The forearms consisted of enormous ammunition weapon slots, whilst the torso could carry a fair few smaller laser weapons. Along with its heavy armour it was one of the deadliest mechs the Inner Sphere had to offer, especially at close range.

After a few extra days on Solaris the time came to leave and begin the rescue mission. The Owens and the extra mech that had been acquired were loaded onto the Dropship and before long they were out of Solaris' atmosphere. Only then was their destination revealed.

"Listen up everybody. It took some time but we've managed to track down the people who are holding Millennium hostage". Big Daddy broke the news to everyone. Westwood was eager to find out.

"Is it near?"

"'Fraid not kid. It's far outside this solar system, could take us a fair few weeks to get there, maybe even months. You should recognise it when we get there though". Big Daddy was deliberately not telling anyone which planet they were going to. The planet in question had the worst military history of any known planet in the Inner Sphere, and some believed even the Clan hadn't seen worse.

There was no time to anticipate though. Although the trip would take a few months Westwood's new mech had to be painted and kitted out with equipment and weaponry. He already had a good idea of what to have.

Thanks to several productive raids Westwood had access to practically every weapon in existence. Fitting the Mauler with autocannons, large lasers, and arrays of missiles was the easy part. Weapons testing and painting would fill up the rest of the journey.


	16. Chapter 16

By the time the Mauler had been painted and fully tested 6 weeks had passed. Six weeks was a long time when you were setting up a mech, although the hindrance of zero gravity made it seem appropriate.

Forty two days after leaving Solaris everyone was woken by a bang in the hangar.

Everyone was in the hangar by the time Westwood arrived. Scattered around the room were parts of the Maulers right leg. The entire machine had fallen on its side, crushing the right arm and the autocannon inside. Westwood stared at the wreckage.

The painting hadn't taken long thanks to charged spray paints, but Westwood had spent an entire week trying to add some makeshift nose art. A poorly drawn silver Owens with red rings around its legs stood proudly under the Maulers now crushed cockpit. The slogan underneath read the same as it had on the Owens, "This time it's personal". All his efforts were now in vain.

"Can it be fixed?" Westwood had to have his mech running before they touched down near wherever Millennium was being held.

"I doubt it", replied one of the mechanics, "The arm and body damage we can manage, but the leg and especially the foot are faulty and just a little, er, exploded, so no on that".

Westwood stared blankly at the mechanic for a few seconds before finally saying, "excuse me please". Everyone watched as he exited the hangar. The moment the doors had closed muffled shouts were heard in Westwood's direction, and everyone decided to leave him to it.

Forty three days after leaving Solaris the destination was finally visible.

The Dropship had entered the solar system of the destination planet. A week into the travel they passed close to a large planet with a series of rings, followed by an even larger planet surrounded by moons. After soaring over a belt of asteroids they passed a much smaller planet, the penultimate before the destination.

A day later the planet was in sight. Westwood looked out of a forward facing window to see a dark blue and green orb floating in the middle of his view. Some hours later the Dropship was in orbit around the planet known simply as Earth.


	17. Chapter 17

"As you already know we can't land on Earth because the vegetation's too thick after 800 years of inoccupation, so we're going to jump instead. Your sixth weapon button will release a set of parachutes. If they're not enough, press again and a second set will be released. This has never been done before, and as Westwood is the only person piloting a light mech he'll go first. Good luck kid!"

Westwood nodded uncomfortably at the encouragement from the Dropship pilot. The hangar had been converted into a jump zone. An enormous conveyor belt on the floor would transport the mechs along the room and out into the sky. Then the parachutes would do the rest.

Westwood was back in the Owens and, despite having worked so hard for the Mauler, was happy to be there. In his opinion nothing could beat this mech for homeliness.

In the dimly lit jump room a large red light glowed besides the closed hangar door. Slowly the large unloading door folded down, revealing the moving Earth beneath them. The drop ship was travelling at 200mph, the slowest they could in a straight line. No mech could go that fast, so now was a good time to find out if mechs can withstand those speeds. What was also on Westwood's mind was their altitude. Five hundred feet above the ground wasn't a safe altitude for human parachutists, let alone mechs.

Westwood stared at the red light next to the open sky. With a large buzz it turned green and the conveyor belt came to life. The Owens jolted forwards and fell out of the Dropship, tumbling through the sky. Westwood squeezed the sixth weapon button the moment he was out of the Dropship. Eight neatly packed parachutes burst out of the top of the Owens, slowing it down. Within seconds the Owens was floating peacefully towards the ground.

Ten seconds later Westwood had touched down in a field. In the distance he could see four Madcats and a pair of Atlases floating down on the horizon. He made his way towards the other mechs. They'd all had to use the second set of parachutes to slow down enough, and the Atlases had barely slowed down in time. At 100 tonnes they were lucky to not to have crushed their legs.

It took ten minutes for all the mechs to regroup. Two of the Madcats had landed in lines of trees next to old motorways. The scratches looked like battle scars.

"Ok, now that we're all together castle can plot our route". A few seconds later navpoint indicators appeared underneath the compass in the HUDs of the pilots, and everyone didn't like what they saw.

The first navpoint was over fifty kilometres away, it would take at over an hour to get there. That was nothing compared to how far away the real destination was though. Navpoint Theta read out at 250 kilometres away. Combined with any obstacles it would take a day if they travelled non stop, and providing they didn't meet anyone on the way.

"Okaaay, Westwood you go up front. Although no one's been here for nearly a millennium we still need to keep our guard up. We'll all stay 500 metres behind you. Everybody, set speeds to 40kmh". This was going to take forever.


	18. Chapter 18

The fastest way to navpoint alpha would be in a straight line, but the safest way was by open unhidden motorway. If a fire fight broke out a closed environment would be better, but this way no mines could be seen. And this way you could at least try figuring out where you were.

The Owens jogged down the right side of the motorway with the rest of the pack trailing behind. The scenery wasn't particularly exciting so Westwood hadn't been paying attention to anything, until he noticed a sign.

"Westwood what's wrong, why have you stopped?" Westwood stared at the sign, It was an late 20th century style milestone, a large coloured sheet of metal raised upon a pair of metal poles.

"This sign says… 'München 120km, Innsbruck 100km…'" They were near the Austria-Germany border, unmoved for over 1000 years.

"Damn, borders are always hotspots for small militia groups. Luckily radar isn't particularly receptive near mountainous borders, so should we detect any we won't know what exactly we're facing, but we will know where they are. Ok we're going to fan out a bit, heavy mechs continue as normal, we're going 500 metres behind them. Continue". Earth had a famous history of countless border shifts and invasions, so Big Daddy's suspicions were probably right.

At Navpoint Gamma the lances came across a small town surrounded on its southern side by towering mountains, nearly 3000 metres tall. Gamma was intended as a rest point, but sure enough to the southern side of the town mech activity was detected.

Westwood first noticed the blip on his radar. It was 500 metres to the south. Surprised to see something get this close Westwood turned immediately to face the target. Directly 500 metres in front of him was a lone tree in a field.

"Careful Westwood, it could be a mine of a decoy". None the less Westwood moved cautiously towards it. As the Owens crept closer the other mechs took positions behind, just in case it was a mine.

The Owens managed to get 200 metres closer to the tree before Westwood decided that there was only one safe way to do this. He lined up the crosshairs and fired a burst with the pulse laser.

The innocent tree burst into flames, leaving the 15 metre tall stump scalded but still standing. All the leaves had disintegrated and several branches were missing, but more importantly nothing had exploded. No danger.

As Westwood sighed a sigh of relief the blip on the radar began to move. It shot off away from his position. Westwood instantly kicked the Owens into pursuit and soon enough saw that he was following the smallest mech he'd ever seen.

It can't have been higher than a house. The small mech had forward folding legs, a right weapon arm and a claw in its left. The tiny hood was surrounded by a pair of armoured laser hardpoints. Millennium would've known exactly what it was.

Before Westwood could admire the technical feat of creating such a small mech it was blown to pieces by a burst of spiralling blue. One of the Atlases had fired a gauss rifle, a powerful magnetic cannon, at the tiny mech and hit it square in the back. Westwood would've felt sorry for the mech had he not then seen what it was fleeing too.


	19. Chapter 19

"This is Lance Commander Goff of the New New World Order. I fought the Clan for these mechs myself. Don't tell whoever your scouting for of our position or we'll blow you to pieces".

Westwood had no idea where the voice had come from but there was no time to work it out, "We're just passing through-" That didn't work.

"We? Enjoy your death, scout". With that a pair of blue flashes struck the ground between the Owens' feet. Westwood looked up to see eight large mechs thundering down an enormous mountain, heading straight for him.

The enemy lance consisted of a pair of Ryoken medium mechs, capable of bringing down even heavy mechs, five Vultures like on Solaris, and one which Westwood didn't recognise.

The unknown mech was average height, had a slightly offset cockpit and nose, a pair of slanted missile racks, and widespread arms. If Westwood knew his Clan mechs better he would have known he was being chased by a Cauldron-Born.

Crouching behind tall traditional Bavarian houses the rest of the mechs waited for Westwood's all clear signal. Instead they were greeted by the Owens sprinting past them, followed by volleys of artillery and lasers. The four Madcats stood up and retaliated but the pursuing mechs continued on. Then the Atlases rose.

Whilst the four Madcats focused on the Vultures, both Atlases focussed on the relatively tiny Ryoken mechs. Against Westwood's Owens the 55 ton Ryokens were deadly, but against 200 tons of Atlases they didn't stand a chance.

Big Momma and Daddy blasted the Ryokens into oblivion with every weapon on their mechs. The Ryokens responded by being blasted backwards. Another shot of their powerful gauss rifles and the Ryokens were history.

The two Atlas pilots turned to their next target, the Cauldron-Born. Westwood heard Goff's voice on his radio. At his command two of the Vultures turned on the Atlases and fired nearly a hundred guided missiles at his attackers. To Westwood's surprise Big Momma and Daddy didn't notice.

Westwood watched as the stream of rockets met the Atlases. The two were set off course just as they entered the Goff's firing range. Goff's shots knocked the Atlases around even more, and as his weapons reloaded another pair of Vultures fired upon the Atlases. It was a deadly rendition of question and answer.

"Vulture 1 and 5, fire upon the Atlases". As Goff gave the order Westwood repeated the information to the Madcats but there was no visual response. One of the Vultures went down but it hadn't attacked the Atlases. They'd nearly taken a pair of Madcats with them too. At this rate the strategy would destroy them all. There was only one way of stopping the Vultures.

Inside Vulture number 4 the pilot carefully dodged all the Madcats' shots, awaiting the order. He fired at a Madcat's leg with his autocannon, disabling it. As the leg fractured there was silence from Goff's direction and the command was given. He turned to face the towering Atlases, but instead saw a tiny scout mech running headlong towards him.

The Owens was running full pelt towards the surprised Vulture pilot, pulse laser firing. The Vulture finally responded by firing his autocannon, but Westwood was too close and dodged. In less than a second he was facing the back of the Vulture, but the Vulture had a 360 degree torso twist and soon caught up.

As Westwood turned around the first Vulture he turned the second one preparing an attack on the Atlases and fired the pulse laser at the cockpit. That grabbed his attention.

It was now an intense side battle of laser against autocannon. The agility of the Owens combined with close range meant that the Vultures couldn't afford to waste too many missiles which might miss, but the autocannon wasn't too accurate either.

As Commander Goff's weapons reloaded the pair of Atlases stabilised. To their surprise no missiles struck them, so instead they turned to Goff and annihilated his slightly smaller mech.

Westwood heard a scream on the radio and knew his work in this fight was done. Goff was down and all he needed to do know was escape. The two handicapped and two unscathed Madcats were now accompanied by the pair of Atlases. The 4 remaining Vultures didn't stand a chance.

Westwood strutted off in the Owens. He'd quite possibly been the turning point of the battle and had saved the lives of his commanders. As Westwood considered his achievement some large bullets streaked past this windscreen. He looked down to find a single blip on the radar was following him.

Sure enough one of the Vultures had broken off in pursuit of him. How it managed to slip away from the bloodbath behind him Westwood couldn't figure out, but what was really on his mind now was that he was being tailed by a mech weighing twice as much as his.


End file.
